BOSTON — Joseph Kennedy III is formally jumping into the race for the Massachusetts congressional seat now held by retiring U.S. Rep. Barney Frank. A member of the campaign who requested anonymity so as not to preempt the candidate’s announcement tells The Associated Press the Democrat is expected to make the announcement Thursday. Kennedy recently moved from Cambridge to Brookline, part of the state’s newly redrawn 4th Congressional District. Kennedy is the son of former U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy II and a grandson of the late Robert F. Kennedy. The family has deep ties to the Boston suburb. Kennedy announced...

I can't believe I haven't figured this out yet. The closeness of the race in Massachusetts is not just a function of the dreadful Martha Coakley and right-wing hostility to health insurance reform. It's also about the Kennedys. This Senate seat was held warm for Ted decades ago, when he was parachuted in and stayed there for ever. Part of the revolt is based on the fact that Coakley seems to be the ultimate Kennedy clan crony, and was also plopped in by a tiny number of primary voters, and seems to imbue the arrogance of the Democratic party elite....

Charlie Cook, is the acclaimed political analyst/publisher of The Cook Political Report newsletter, which publishes analysis of the primaries and general elections for federal political offices and state governorships. The Report's predictions are accorded high credibility among journalists and politicians. Cook released a rare Sunday update today, moving the Massachusetts senate race from a "toss-up" to slightly favoring Scott Brown.

The “let-them-eat-cake” campaign. That’s how bad it is for Martha Coakley: Even some big-time Democrats are calling her Senate run that. What happened? Well, man crushes are breaking out all over. Every time you turn on cable, there’s chiseled Scott Brown doing the Mount Rushmore thing. There’s the two Rushmore-ettes, Brown’s gorgeous daughters, jumping into the fray. Revved-up voters are 15 deep in line for absentee ballots in the People’s Republic of Sharon, for God’s sake, and across the state. (Sharon Town Clerk Marlene B. Chused does caution: Sharon is among many towns also voting Tuesday on 2 overrides or...

Is your campaign in trouble? Attack Rush Limbaugh! ***************Democrats must really be worried about the Massachusetts special election. The DNC dispatched partisan fire-breather Hari Sevugan to help with Martha Coakley's communications strategy. Coakley's in trouble because the Democratic health care bill is unpopular in Massachusetts, Democratic incumbent governor Deval Patrick is a flop, and the unemployment rate is at 8.8 percent.The rule in politics is to change the subject when your campaign is in trouble. Sure enough, Sevugan wasted no time spilling ink in a desperate attempt to link Republican Scott Brown to Sarah Palin. In last night's debate, Coakley...

How worried have Democrats become about the special Senate election in Massachusetts? The DSCC has suddenly shifted over a half-million dollars into last-minute ad buys in Boston and Springfield to shore up Martha Coakley’s campaign: The DSCC will launch ads on behalf of AG Martha Coakley (D) as she battles to preserve Dems’ 60-seat majority in the Senate.The DSCC has purchased $567K in ads in the Boston and Springfield markets, a source tells Hotline OnCall.The move is the most overt DC Dems have made so far in shoring up their candidate in the race against state Sen. Scott Brown (R),...

No big surprise here, Democrats enjoying their one party rule domination in my state have pulled off one of the most hypocritical and transparent moves in history. Today 24 Democrats beat out 11 Democrats and 5 Republicans and plan to deliver the bill Deval Patrick so much wants to sign at the behest of his puppet master in DC. We can put the blame entirely on Patrick who caved under the pressure like a flimsy deck of cards. (check out my handy work on Deval, putting photoshop skills to work)

Renegade state Sen. Scott P. Brown, a Republican from Wrentham, told the Herald this morning he is “testing the waters” for a run at the seat of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. Although he won’t formally declare his candidacy yet, Brown said he plans to spend the next week raising a small amount of money, as federal election laws permit for those who are exploring a run for U.S. Senate.

(CBS) Although Sen. Ted Kennedy had sought to expedite the process of choosing his replacement to the U.S. Senate, it appears the process will be at least three to four months away. As CBS chief political correspondent Steve Chaggaris reports, Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick must set a date for a special election to occur between 145 and 160 days from now to fill the vacancy created by Kennedy's death. The two likely dates for a special election would be on the Tuesdays that fall within this range: January 19, 2010 and January 26, 2010. Thanks to a law change in...